Maybe
by Lorina Dante
Summary: A short scene between Hayden Cale and Scott Ridley. Taking place some time after Hayden's first meeting with Dante and her discussion with Ridley.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first try at writing Hayden Cale in English. I always found her tough to write, even in French, so I hope this didn't turn out too bad! This little oneshot was supposed to be somewhat shippy (the idea of Hayden/Scott amuses me way too much), but of course, knowing how things turn out in the movie, you can interpret it however you want. :)

As usual, critics and corrections are welcome! This is (I think) the longest thing I ever wrote in English, and some parts almost drove me crazy!

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><p><strong>Maybe<strong>

Hayden Cale sat at the computer and began to read everything she could find. She read about CHAANK's employees and about the company's last projects, including the Hardman soldier, and she frowned when she realized that none of the reports concerning Dante's projects had actually been written by the man himself. The reports were all signed by John Carpenter, except for two of them (the oldest), which had been written by Scott Ridley.

So much information was missing… She had known from the very beginning that nobody would agree to help her, but that did not make it any less annoying. Ridley and the others were clearly hiding everything they could; they were all protecting Dante as if their lives had depended on it. Maybe that was exactly the case, Hayden thought, and she toyed with that idea for a moment, trying to guess what Dante was really hiding in the vault 10. Whatever it was might have explained Nicholson's death…

The sound of steps made her look near the door, and she sighed when she recognized Scott Ridley behind the glass wall. Hayden hurried and hid Ridley's personal card in the pocket of her vest before he had the chance to notice anything. He entered the office without even knocking and walked to her in silence. Hayden couldn't help but notice that he was even paler than the last time she had spoken to him just a few hours ago.

Even though Ridley was frightened, he had no one to blame but himself: firing Dante should have been his job, not hers. Maybe if it had been someone else Hayden would have been a little bit more sympathetic… But Ridley was clearly not good at attracting sympathy. He was too arrogant.

- You're really stupid, Ridley growled. You shouldn't be reading those things.

Hayden frowned and answered coldly:

- Someone _has_ to do your job. That's the reason I was sent here, remember? I already told you; you can continue to hide if that's what you want, just don't try to stop me.

- Augh, for fuck's sake! Where's your survival instinct? You're not gonna fix anything; you'll just cause even more trouble!

- I know what I'm doing, Scott…

Ridley glared at her and slammed his hands on the desk.

- No you don't know! You _don't_ fucking know what you're doing! If you knew, you wouldn't be doing it in the first place!

He took a deep breath and made a visible effort to calm himself again, then looked at Hayden's computer screen, read a couple of lines and sighed. Tightening his fists, he glared at Hayden.

- Look, which part of "_Dante is insane_" you don't understand? He's going to kill you if you go on like this. You, and probably other people too.

Was she really in danger? Probably, but Hayden had thought about it and believed she had enough time left to stop Dante without too much problems. Dante would probably be furious when he would understand what she was trying to do, but he had seemed more curious about her than anything else when she had spoken to him earlier. She was willing to risk her life to stop Dante; even if the man was dangerous, she was stronger than him. It would take more than that maniac to stop her. As to what would happen to the company without its weapon designer… She did not care about it too much, to tell the truth.

She looked at her colleague, trying to understand how he could be so terrified. Dante, no matter how insane he could be, was still nothing more than a man, yet Ridley and the others all seemed to think that he was some sort of omnipotent monster.

- Scott, if all you have to suggest is that I do like the others and hide under my desk while Dante does anything he wants, I don't want to hear what you have to say.

That was without a doubt what Ridley had had in mind, because he muttered something incomprehensible and sighed again. He lowered his eyes for a moment and stayed silent. Hayden was beginning to lose her patience when Ridley finally looked at her again. She had wanted to tell him to get out of her office, tell him to let her work, but the words died in her throat when she saw his eyes. Not that he was crying or anything like that; if he had been, Hayden would have immediately suspected him to be faking it anyway. No, Ridley was simply terrified, and never before had Hayden ever seen such fear and despair in the eyes of a man. At this precise moment, Ridley simply had no hope left, and he had realized it.

Hayden knew she could not trust Ridley, and that taking pity on him would not help her. If anything, it would let Ridley believe that he had a chance to convince her to change her mind on what she intended to do… But she still took his hand in hers and squeezed it softly, and she smiled a little.

- Don't worry so much…

He looked at her for an instant, uncertain, and then smiled back. It was a weak smile, but Hayden thought Ridley did seemed to feel a little better. This smile, at least, was a big improvement over the ones she had seen before from him, these cold grins that had made Hayden want to hit something.

- Well, someone _has_ to do your job, he answered mockingly.

Hayden rolled her eyes, amused. When Ridley took her other hand in his, she hesitated and felt a soft shiver going down her back. Part of her wanted to step back and tell Ridley to go, because that shiver she had felt was just plain wrong… She could not afford to be distracted like that, and even less by someone like Ridley, who had no intention of helping her. She had only wanted to reassure him, but now her heart was beating just a little too fast and she couldn't stop thinking about the warmth of his hands (How could they be so warm? She had been so sure that they would be cold).

She had to stay focused. Looking Ridley in the eyes, she murmured:

- Everything could be over in no time if you helped me.

He let go off her hands and lowered his gaze, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. After a moment Ridley looked at her again, and Hayden saw that same despair in his expression. During a brief second, she regretted to have broken the silence.

- My solution still seems much easier than yours, Ridley said. There's no way I'll ever be able to make you change your mind, right?...

There was no point in lying; for people like Hayden Cale, hiding was never an option. She shook her head slowly, and Scott sighed.

- Then… Maybe I'll think about it. Maybe.

Hayden smiled a little and did her best to ignore how that single word – "_Maybe_"– had made her heart race again. Just a few minutes ago, the thought of making Ridley change his mind had seemed impossible and stupid, but now that soft "maybe" almost sounded like a "yes". Maybe he would help her. Maybe she could help him too, if he wanted her to…

Maybe.

Without adding a word, Ridley stepped back and exited the office. As he walked away, Hayden thought she saw him look in her direction through the glass wall and smile a little. She probably imagined it, of course… She sat at her desk again to continue to read, but somehow she was unable to concentrate. She just kept looking at her hands. They still felt warm.

_The end_


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, so this had been supposed to be just a oneshot... Turns out I decided to add two small parts to it!It feels weird, this is the closest thing to a "chaptered-fic" I have written in _years_. This scene takes place right after the first, the third... well, you'll see later. Enjoy this one for now!

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><p>As soon as Scott turned the corridor corner, his weak smile turned into a frown and he fastened his pace. Thoughts were rolling way too fast in his head, everything seemed all wrong… What the fuck had just happened anyway? He had just wanted to talk to Cale, try to convince her one last time. Not that he had really hoped that it would work; that bitch was too stubborn for that. Still, for a second he had almost believed she would change her mind…<p>

And all that compassion in her eyes! It was enough to make you sick. He had hated it; the way she had asked for his help, how she had smiled as she had took his hand in hers. Compassion was the last thing Scott needed; what he had wanted was to make sure Cale would agree to shut up and leave the company's projects alone. _Compassion_ would certainly not help him if Dante decided to go crazy again.

Fuck, he needed a cigarette… He had smoked the last one from his pack earlier today and had forgotten to buy another after that. Too much things to do, too many problems to think about.

He thought about Dante, and how he had seemed so happy to learn that the new CEO was actually a (young and pretty) woman. What could he be planning now? If John was to be believed, Dante had not been working as much as usual these last few days… The piles of blueprints and notes left on John's desk by Dante had been much thinner since Bob's death. That was not a good sign.

Everything was wrong, and to think that Cale would soon make every single problem even worse was enough to drive you mad…

But what Scott hated the most right now was how, for a couple of minutes, he had almost made the mistake of believing her. When he had taken her hand he simply had not thought, it just had seemed to be the natural thing to do. For a second, he had almost forgotten how he fucking hated her and why he had come to see her in the first place. When he had told her he would think about her proposition, he had actually been sincere…

His thoughts had been confused for a moment; there was nothing more to it. She had distracted him, but now that Cale was away, Scott could think clearly again. No matter how convincing she could be, Cale was wrong: her plan would never work.

And didn't he have his own interests to think about too? Even without taking Dante into account, he had so much to lose! So much money and work; and that bitch was ready to blow it all away without thinking about it twice! Scott could never agree to that.

Even if she had been nice enough... In her own way, at least. If the situation had not been so serious, her stubbornness could have been amusing. That determination she had to "do the right thing" was a real problem; someone with such a strong character could have been so useful to the company! That damn morality was ruining everything! Under other circumstances, maybe he would have liked to work with her…

Of course, all that thinking was useless. Cale would never change sides; she had already decided. No matter how great it was to imagine her changing her mind, it would never happen.

Scott entered his office and quickly nodded to John who had been waiting for him, doodling in a little notebook to pass the time. He put his pen down and looked at Scott with unhidden curiosity.

- …So? What did she say?  
>- She asked me if I wanted to help her.<p>

John shrugged.

- Well, that's not exactly a surprise. You didn't think she would agree to be on our side, did you?  
>- Of course not, Scott answered dryly. But still… What the hell can we do now?<p>

They had worked together long enough to understand each other without having to say everything. Something in Scott's voice and expression made clear that the question was not _really_ a question but more of a proposition; an invitation to his colleague to say out loud what they probably both had in mind…

But apparently they were not thinking the same thing this time.

- No need to get rid of her, John said. Not so soon. Dante will probably take care of her anyway…  
>- But what if he doesn't? She's dangerous, John. When I went to see her, she was reading every report we had filled for Dante! She already knows way too much; we need to make sure she will shut the fuck up!<p>

Scott sighed and closed his eyes for a moment.

- She'll bring the whole company down if we let her.  
>- Killing her would look way too suspicious. There is no way I could make it pass for an accident; everyone would guess it was our fault. You better find something else, at least for now.<p>

Rubbing his temples, Scott groaned then stayed silent for a moment. What could he say? That he was afraid that he might be distracted again? John would never believe it. Hell, he didn't want to believe it himself.

- I… I'll find something. I will call you later and we will figure that out. Just go back to work for now…

John got up, and Scott hated the concern he saw in his eyes.

- At least try to find a solution that wouldn't involve having to bury a corpse somewhere…

He walked away without adding a single word, and Scott refrained himself from throwing a paperweight at his head. That probably wouldn't have helped anyway.


End file.
